Stretching device



June 1939- G. F. WATERS STRETCHING DEVICE Filed Dec. 31,

INVENTOR. GEORGE F PVZITERS.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 6, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (Claims.

My invention relates to means for stretching single or multiple strands of yarn, thread, cord. rope made from cotton or other materials, or strips of narrow fabric either braided or woven.

I or leather or other materials in their natural state or fabricated wherever a reduction in elasticity is desired. In the following specification I have used theterm linear member to designate in general such materials which are stated above,

I without limitation.

The devices used for the-above purpose in the past, with which I am familiar, have consisted in a stretching device, wherein the material was subjected to the desired tension, and a reel or other take-up device for collecting the stretched material. where the take-up device was a reel or spool, the rate of take-up increased as the reel diameter became greater, due to accumulation'of material thereon. Therefore, a frictional slip drive on the take-up device was necessary to prevent breakage of the material. and the material was wound upon the spool at tension in various degrees below that attained in previous parts of the devices. This constitutes a serious defect in the above class of stretching devices, because certain materials, due to their elasticity, will immediately shrink to a considerable extent if not retained for some time in the completely stretched condition.

An object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a stretching device wherein the material is wound and retained upon the spool or reel at the point of greatest tension and attenuation.

Another object of my. invention is to provide a novel control whereby an exact and predetermined elongation ofa linear member may be attained, limited only by the breaking point of I the material in question. By my device the amount of null or tension on the yarn or other 40 linear material may be easily and quickly varied over a very wide range. Due to its simplicity and safety, the operation may be very rapid, two hundreds yards a minute being easily attained. and theunitsaresmallandcanbeoperatedfroma 45 single operating unit in considerable numbers without taking up much floor space.

As stated above, the device may be made to operate on a multiple series of strands at one time. Furthermore, there is a considerable 50 length of material between the point of application of tension and'the take-up which acts to produce a more uniform stretch in linear material which has thicker and thinner portions where the thicker portions will stretch more as readily than the thinner portions since there is not much chance that the entire span between the take-up device and the point of application of-the opposing force will be spanned by unevenness in the weaving or spinning of the linear material. In the appended drawing the several 5 modifications are illustrative of my invention, and I will describe the same, the novelty therein being set forth in the appended claims to which reference is hereby made.

In the drawing:' 10

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of my devices.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the tension applying member.-

-l"ig.3isadiagramshowingamodifiedconstruction. ll

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a possible multiple arrangement.

R.eferring to Fig. 1, I have illustrated. a frame I. At one side I have illustrated a supply 2 of thread or twine I. The supply, however, may 2 come from a treating bath such as, for example, water where thread or twine is concerned. Another alternative would be to take the supply direct from the twisting machine, from which the material may emerge in a dampened condi- 25 tion. At the other side of the machine is a take-up device in the form of a reel 4 driven by mechanism I through a clutch t, which clutch may be magnetically controlled, or may consist of the tight and loose pulley arrangement com- 30 monly known. A traverse motion 1 may be employed to assure an even winding of the linear element on the reel. The material is shown as being passed first under a loop I which is held up by the material so long as it does not break, but if the material should break and the loop is permitted to fall, it will energise a magnetic or mechanical device which will disengage the clutch 0. Such arrangements being common, I have not illustrated them in detail.

I have shown guides I whereby the material, in this instance twine, is luided to the tension applying device. A preferred form of this deviceis illustrated best in Pig. 2, consisting of a pair of grooved rolls II and it supported in suitable standards and free to rotate in contact with each other. There are grooves ii in the rollers and the filament or cord passes around the lower roller II in its groove and thence in the opposite direction around the roller ii in its groove. 'I'o resist movement of the thread about this device,

'abrakeshoeliisappliedinthisinstancetothe upper roller, the object of the grooves in the rollers being that the filament or linear member willnotslip,sothattheforceappliedbythe brake shoe II will restrain the movement, at this point, of the material tobe stretched.

The brake shoe is mounted on a rod l4, suitably guided and pivoted in this instance to a lever l5, fulcrumed at- It on a suitable part of the frame. An adjustable weight I1 is applied to this lever so as to vary the force applied to the brake shoe. Also pivotally secured to the lever ll either on the same stud that supports the rod l4, or by an independent stud in any one of a series of holes II in the lever, is a yoke I 0, supporting a pulley 24. The filament or other linear member is led from the tension device around suitable guides, such as a pulley 2|, to a pair of adjustable pulleys 22 at the top of-the machine. The supporting pins of the pulleys 22 are adjustable in slots 23 in the frame to accommodate different positions of the pulley 20.

Between the two pulleys 22 the material is brought down under the pulley so as to forma loop 24 of the material in a supporting relation to the pulley 2.. A preferred arrangement will be to have the two branches of the loop 24 at about a forty-five degree angle with relation to each other. From the pulley 22 the filament is passed down around a suitable guide such'as the pulley 24, from which it passes to the take-up device, in this instance thereel 4.

It will be-noted that at any given speed of operation as the materfal'increases on the reel 4 a more rapid feeding action will occur due to the increased diameter, but this will have no effect on the continuous and even operation of my device. With the arrangement shown, ss the tension on the material increases it exerts an upward pull on the pulley 20 which acts as a feed control pulley, because the upward pull on the pulley will release some of the pressu e as applied to the brake shoe ll which will decrease the tensioning force as applied to the material. The amount and position of the weight I! on the lever II, determines the amount of work that the feed control pulley must do to permit the tensioning device to alter the force applied by means of the brake shoe II, with the result that as the weight on'the lever is increased or moved away from the fulcrum of the lever the material is stretched more and more; but whatever amount of stretch is applied will be kept down to the limit oi what it takes to eleva e the feed control pulley. Thus any amount of tension may be applied to that portion'of the material which lies between'the tension applying device and the take-up reel. The stretching operation starts in the grooves on the feed rolls and continues gradually and uninterrupted y until the material is wound in podtion on the reel, spool, or other take-up appurtenance which is the place of greatest tension. The material will, of course, remain held firm in the stretched condition on the said take-up dev ce. Y

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a form in which the grooved rolls II and II have a brake shoe ,ll applied to them through a rod l4. which carrles a feed control pulley 34 directly on its upward end. In this instance the weight it will be applied direct to the rod i4 and more or less weights applied as the only means of increasing or decreasing the total force applied to the material being stretched. I

In Fig. 4 I have shown a mult ple arrangement with grooved rolls 32 and 33 having multiple grooves and material led thereto through a comb 34. A brake shoe 2' is wide enough to rest eutirelyacros the upper roller and the control pulleys and grooved rails for each strand of the material. I

Referringto yfirstconstructiomitwillbe evident that the further the feed control pulley is moved from the fulcrum of the lever II, the.

more sensitive the device will become. because slight movements of the pulley will cause a greater change in the load applied to the brake shoe. Also the nearer that the supporting loop about the control pulley approaches a straight line the less sensitive the device becomes, because it will require a greater application of tension to the material being stretched to efiect a given magnitude of movement of the feed control pulley.

It will, of course, be apparent that the amount of movement of the feed control pulley will be very slight and in the nature of a hunting action.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A machine for the tensioning of filaments, comprising in combination with a supply reel and a take-up reel, a frame through which the filament passes between said reels, rotary means in said frame over which the filament passes in an extended path through said frame, and a tension applying device about which the filament passes, said device arranged to grip the filament so as to rotate therewith without slippage oi' the filament, a brake means, applied to said device, said brake suspended over the device, a weight applied to said brake, said rotary means arranged to provide support for a loop of the filament which is passed around a rotary element which is mounted on the brake means thereby suspending the same, the tension applying means being located to engage the filament at the beginning of its extended path from the supply reel to the take-up reel. 1

2. A machine for the tensioning of filaments, comprisingin combination with a supply reel and a take up reel, a frame through which the filament passes between said reels, rotary means in said frame over which the filament passes in an extended path through said frame, and a tension applying device about which the filament passes, said device arranged to grip the filament so as to rotate therewith without slippage of the filament, a brake means applied to said device, said brake suspended over the device, a weight applied to said brake, said rotary means arranged to provide support for a loop of the filament which is passed around a rotary element which is mounted on the brake means thereby suspending the same, the tension applying means being located to engage the filament at the beginning of its extended path from the supply reel to the take up reel, said rotary means, tension device and rotary element arranged to receive a plurality of filaments.

3. A machine for the tensioning of filaments, comprising in combination with a supply reel and a take up reel, a frame through which the filament p between said reels, rotary means in said frame over which the filament passes in an extended path through said frame, and a tension applying device about which the filament passes, said device arranged to grip the filament so as to rotate therewith without slippage of the filament, a brake means applied to said device, said brake suspended over the device, a weight applied to said brake, said rotary means arranged to provide support for a loop of. the filament which is passed around a rotary element which is mounted on the brake means thereby suspending the same, the tension applying means being located to engage the filament at the beginning of its extended path from the supply reel to the take up reel, said brake means comprising a slidably guided rod, a brake shoe thereon, a rotary means at the upper end thereof, and a lever having an adjustable weight thereon, pivotally engaging the said means.

4. A machine for the'tensioning of filaments, comprising in combination with a supply reel and a take up reel, a frame through which the filament passes between said reels, rotary means in' said frame over which the filament passes in an extended path through said frame, and a tension applying device about which the filament passes, said device arranged to grip the filament so as to rotate therewith without slippage of the filament, a brake means applied to said device, said brake suspended over the device, a weight applied to said brake, said rotary means arranged to provide support for a loop of the filament which is passed around a rotary element which is mounted on the brake means thereby suspending the same, the tension applying means being located to engage the filament at the beginning of its extended path from the supply reel to the take up reel, said brake means comprising a slidably guided rod, a brake shoe thereon, a rotary means at the upper end thereof, and a lever having an adjustable weight thereon, pivotally engaging the said means, said lever having a series of holes therein for reception of a pivot pin that engages the said means.

GEORGE F. WATERS. 

